


firewood

by mixtapestar



Series: Comfortween 2020 [13]
Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: Broken Bones, Established Relationship, Introspection, M/M, Mosaic Timeline (The Magicians: A Life in the Day), Parenthood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:14:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26995000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mixtapestar/pseuds/mixtapestar
Summary: While he was off to gather firewood to get them through the winter, Eliot had a startling realization.
Relationships: Quentin Coldwater/Eliot Waugh
Series: Comfortween 2020 [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948594
Comments: 10
Kudos: 48
Collections: Comfortween 2020





	firewood

**Author's Note:**

> For Comfortween Day 13: Achilles Heel (helping someone with a foot injury). Most of that comes in the very last part of this fic, but there's more to come in another fill later this month...
> 
> Thanks to Rubi & Hoko for your amazing ongoing support! <3

When Eliot got back to the cottage, he told Quentin that his broken toe was from sheer bad luck. "I thought I heard something in the forest while I was coming back with the firewood. I turned my head to look and tripped right over a tree root."

But that wasn't the whole story.

It was true he'd been distracted, carrying the firewood and not looking where he was going. But there was no mysterious forest sound.

He'd been distracted, his mind starting to wander as soon as he'd stepped out to replenish their firewood supply. Teddy was getting to the age that he'd normally be starting Kindergarten, if they were on Earth, and Quentin wanted to get him more connected with other kids in the village near his age. There was a school in the village, and from what Quentin had told him, it seemed Teddy was the perfect age to join.

Eliot didn't want him to go. He hadn't quite come out and said it really, partially because Teddy was hesitant about it too, and Eliot was trying to be supportive. But Quentin knew. They'd been circling a fight for days, both of them getting snippier over the smallest things until Eliot finally declared that they needed more firewood before winter set in and took off for the afternoon.

He didn't know why he felt so strongly about it. Getting an education was important, and there was only so much he and Quentin could cover while also trying to find a pattern of tiles that represented the beauty of all life. And no son of Eliot's should ever be lacking in social skills.

As he came to the clearing with the chopping block he'd charmed last season, he realized what was bothering him. To the people of the village, especially the parents, Teddy _was_ no son of Eliot's. They had known Arielle, who had once been one of them— _but no, he's not going there, or he'll get too upset to focus_. Quentin and Eliot had long been "those mosaic boys", a title that they bore proudly for many years. But then Quentin and Arielle had been married, exchanging marriage charms as was custom for this era in Fillory, and they were no longer "those mosaic boys", instead just one mosaic boy and his married roommates. That was far from the truth of things, behind closed doors, but when Teddy came along, it was easier to let people craft their own narrative.

So now it left things a little strange. Quentin was Teddy's father; there was no contesting that. Even if you knew nothing of the history, Teddy had Quentin's looks, his mannerisms, down to the little furrow between his brows when he was concentrating or confused about something. To Quentin, Eliot was Teddy's father too. He'd always been a part of the family; all three of them decided that together the night they found out Arielle was pregnant. But to everyone else? He was just that nice young man, supporting his friend the widower. He'd already been hearing flavors of this when he ventured out to market alone. He irked to think of dropping Teddy off at school and being told how kind he was, to help out poor Quentin. As if Eliot hadn't suffered a loss too. As if Quentin didn't mean as much—if not more, he thought unfairly—to Eliot as he had to Arielle. As if the two of them, Quentin and Teddy, didn't make up Eliot's entire world.

He took out his bitter thoughts on the forest for a while, working up a sweat and chopping up enough firewood for four bundles—two to carry and two to float behind him on the return trip. The position of the sun told him it was well past lunchtime, so he sat down on the chopping block and ate some jerky, evaluating his current mood. He felt better, for having the break and the time alone to work out his shit. But it didn't solve anything. He was irrationally jealous of a dead woman; a woman he happened to have loved, in his own way. It wasn't logical or fair, and it certainly wasn't fixable. Obviously Teddy should go to school, obviously he should have more chances to connect with other kids. Eliot would just have to suck it up.

The sun was starting to sink in the sky as Eliot gathered up his bundles. He started the journey back carefully, keeping an eye on his feet and his concentration on the bundles behind him. But before long, his mind started to wander again, this time further back in his memories. Flashes of past conversations, Quentin convincing him to stop wearing Fen's ring, the two of them promising to stick with this quest and with each other no matter what, Quentin reminding him _in Fillory, you get to have one of each_ —they'd had that last one much too soon, in a haze of grief, and never revisited it. Eliot stared out into the distance and his foot collided painfully with a tree root as he was struck by the realization— _he could ask Quentin to marry him_.

The bundles flew out of his hands and he caught himself in the fall, managing to save himself further injury. But his mind could barely focus on the pain in his foot. God, a proposal was probably a foregone conclusion at this point, he'd just been too stupid to ask. Quentin had been dropping hints for ages. Just last week he said something about visiting the pastor that had officiated his and Arielle's wedding, and how he'd wished Eliot well.

How long had Eliot been stumbling along, thinking himself second best without really studying why? What must Quentin think, that all of his deliberate hints had been ignored for so long? Of course, Q knew how oblivious Eliot could be; Eliot was frankly surprised he hadn't given up and asked himself.

It was slow-going, getting back to the cottage after that. His pinky toe was definitely broken, too painful to put weight on. He used magic to float himself a couple of inches off the ground, but he'd used up a lot of energy chopping wood all day, so his pace was significantly slower. Luckily he wasn't far from home when he fell.

It gave him time to come up with a plan. He wouldn't ask right away, not when they were one wrong move away from a fight when he'd left. He had to make up for his part in that first, and then he could focus on a proposal that would sweep Quentin off his feet.

He didn't think to make up a cover story, so the mysterious forest sound became his line for why he was distracted enough to break his toe. He bit his lip on a smile as Quentin fawned over him, helping him onto their bed and asking Teddy to get a small board from behind the house so they could make a splint.

"Are you really okay?" Quentin asked quietly when Teddy was out of earshot.

Eliot reached for him and pulled him into a kiss, which Quentin happily returned. "It hurts, but I'm fine."

"Be more careful next time," Quentin said with such tenderness in his expression that Eliot's breath caught. He was going to marry this man.

"I promise," Eliot said. He raised his voice as he went on, "You know, this is going to significantly hinder my ability to take Teddy to school next week."

Quentin's eyes darted up to his, and he inhaled sharply. "It's… I can take him, if you… So you can rest."

"No, I want us both to drop him off, his first week." He met Quentin's searching look with a significant expression of his own, marvelling at how easy it was to communicate with Quentin without words. "If we set off early enough, I can use magic to help, if I need it."

"That, um, that sounds perfect." Suddenly that little wrinkle was there between Quentin's brows, even as a smile took over the rest of his expression.

Teddy sighed heavily, returning with the board as requested. "Do I _have_ to start school?"

Eliot smirked and leaned forward to ruffle Teddy's hair. "Pretty soon you'll have so many friends at school that you'll _hate_ coming home to your boring old dads."

Teddy wrinkled his nose. "That's never gonna happen."

Eliot hoped like hell he was right.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are love! <3


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